5 reasons to watch Bellator 166, including a hard-to-hold title, and a few guys with something to prove

Bellator puts down stakes in Thackerville, Okla., this weekend for two fight cards. The first of those events, Bellator 166, takes place on Friday from WinStar World Casino & Resort and features a title fight between bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas and former champ Joe Warren.

The first time these two met, Dantas was the reigning champ, but after five rounds, it was Warren who had his hand raised in victory, getting the unanimous decision nod and capturing the title.

Warren surrendered the belt in his very next outing, verbally submitting to Marcos Galvao, who subsequently lost the title to Dantas in his first attempted defense.

The last bantamweight champion to successfully defend the title was Dantas, who did so twice during his first championship reign, which lasted from April 13, 2012, through October 10, 2014.

In the co-main event, rising star, A.J. McKee looks to extend his winning streak to six straight when he faces Ray Wood.

Bellator 166 begins with prelims on MMAjunkie before moving to Spike for the main card.

Here are five reasons to watch Bellator 166

1. Going through changes

It’s speed vs. strength in the Dantas and Warren fight. In their first meeting, Warren’s (13-5 MMA, 12-4 BMMA) power carried the day, negating the striking and submissions that have made Dantas (18-4 MMA, 8-1 BMMA) a threat throughout his run as a Bellator bantamweight.

Since that 2014 contest, Dantas has won two straight, defeating Mike Richman and winning the title back with a decision over Marcos Galvao in June. However, Warren, who is 2-2 since the first meeting and coming off a win over Sirwan Kakai, seems to think he might have broken something inside Dantas during their first fight.

“I believe he changed after last time I beat him,” Warren told MMAjunkie Radio. “He changed to a more of a point fighter instead of the tough fighter that’s running across the cage trying to finish you in the first round. I haven’t seen that out of him lately.”

If Warren is right, he could be on his way to becoming a three-time Bellator champion. If Warren is wrong, Dantas’ grasp of the title will just get stronger.

Dantas is currently ranked No. 6 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA bantamweight rankings, while Warren checks in as an honorable mention.

2. Not ideal, but still an opportunity

McKee has looked excellent in his five pro fights. In his first four fights, McKee stopped his opponent in the first round. His most recent fight went into the second round, but just barely, with McKee submitting Cody Walker 32 seconds into the second stanza.

McKee was originally scheduled to face Emmanuel Sanchez on this card, but an injury prevented Sanchez from making the walk to the cage. Instead, McKee (5-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) meets Wood (7-2 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), who last fought in May, losing to Adam Piccolotti via first-round submission.

The Sanchez fight could have launched McKee to the next level of the featherweight division had he won. A win over Wood won’t carry nearly the same weight. McKee has to know that, which ups the pressure on him to add another highlight-reel finish to his record. As for Wood, he has a huge opportunity to play spoiler.

3. A former champ with something to prove

Marcos Galvao has two losses in his last nine fights, both title fights and both to Dantas. Neither of those contests went particularly well for Galvao. He was knocked out in the first bout and dominated on the scorecards in the rematch (50-45, 50-44, 50-43), a fight where he surrendered his bantamweight title to Dantas.

Galvao didn’t offer Dantas much more than target practice in their most recent fight, and one can’t help but wonder how that loss affected Galvao’s mindset.

If Galvao (17-7-1 MMA, 8-4 BMMA) is as reluctant to engage as he was in the Dantas matchup, this bantamweight matchup could turn into a showcase for his opponent, L.C. Davis (23-7 MMA, 3-1 BMMA), who is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Joe Warren in September 2015.

4. The kid’s got potential

Chris Honeycutt was pegged by Bellator president Scott Coker as a fighter with “big star” potential. That star dimmed a bit earlier this year when he was TKOd by Paul Bradley in the first round of their welterweight bout.

Honeycutt bounced back from that loss with a win over Matt Secor before moving up to middleweight for his most recent fight where he defeated Mikkel Parlo by decision.

Honeycutt didn’t have a problem dealing with Parlo’s size, but he did seem to struggle a bit in the cardio department as the fight wore on. With a few more months training at the heavier weight, that’s something to watch when Honeycutt (8-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) faces the much more experienced Ben Reiter (17-1-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) at Bellator 166.

Reiter is coming off a unanimous decision win over A.J. Matthews in June.

5. Making adjustments

Chance Rencountre began his MMA career on a 7-0 run. In his first step up in competition, he dropped a decision to James Nakashima at RFA 30. He bounced back from that loss with a decision victory on a C3 Fights event, but followed that with a split decision loss to Justin Patterson in his Bellator debut in March.

Rencountre, who trains with Alliance MMA, is still a work in progress. He’s a tough fighter with good takedown skills, and some power in his hands, but his ability to adjust his game plan during battle has hurt him in his two losses. It will be worth watching this fight to see if the team at Alliance can help Rencountre (8-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) become a more complete fighter.

Rencountre’s opponent, Levi Queen (9-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) makes his Bellator debut on this card, bringing with him a four-fight winning streak, with each of those victories coming by way of stoppage.

For more on Bellator 166, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.